Colonial Charters

Constitution

The legal structure establishing governmental bodies, granting their powers, determining how their members are selected and prescribing the rules by which they make their decisions. Considered basic or fundamental a constitution cannot be changed by ordinary acts of governmental bodies

Direct Democracy

Initiative

A device by which a specific number or percentage of the voters may petition to have constitutional amendment or law placed on the ballot for adoption or rejection by the electorate found in some state constitutions but not in the U.S constitution

Term Limits

Federalism

A constitutional arrangement whereby power is divided between national and subnational governments, each of which enforces its own laws directly on to citizens and neither of which can alter the arrangements without the consent of the other

Delegated, or enumerated powers

Necessary and Proper Clause

Clause in Article I Section 8, of the U.S Constitution granting Congress the power to enact all laws that are "necessary and proper" for carrying out those responsibilities specifically delegated to it. Also referred to as the Implied Powers Clause

National Supremacy Clause

Reserved Powers

Power not granted to the national government or specifically denied to the states in the Constitution that are recognized by the 10th amendment as belonging to the state governments. This guarantee, known as the Reserved Powers Clause, embodies the principle of American Federalism

Cooperative Federalism

Centralized Federalism

Model of federalism in which the national government assumes primary responsibility for determining national goals in all major policy areas and directs state and local government activity through conditions attached to money grants

New Federalism

A reference to efforts first in the Nixon administration to return some federal tax funds to the states (general revenue sharing) and later efforts in the Reagan administration to consolidate federal grant-in-aid programs into block grants

Post-Registration Laws

White Primary

The discriminatory practice of keeping blacks from voting in the southern states' primaries through arbitrary use of registration requirements and intimidation. Democrats in the South declared their party a private club and prohibited blacks from membership

Effects Test

Totality of Circumstances Test

A list of factors that courts must use to determine whether newly drawn districts effectively weaken minority voting power, including past discrimination, the extent of racially polarized voting, and whether a minority has ever been elected to office in a jurisdiction